Spring Break
Swim team shows strength in first home meet of season
The Chargers had no trouble taking down conference foe Northern Michigan
Phillip Morgan
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Sports
For the Hillsdale swim team, Saturday morning started out with head coach Kurt Kirner brandishing a butcher's knife, as the team gathered in Saga for a pep talk.
"I want you to slash your times," Kirner said. "I want to see flash not splash. I want to see you send chills up the other team's spine."
According to at least one swimmer, that dramatic analogy did the trick.
"It really woke us up and got our attention," sophomore Lauren Andriesen said.
Kirner says he first had the idea to set up the meeting when he noticed their home meets fall on two ominous days, Halloween and Friday the 13th.
"It caused a little stir," he said.
The message apparently sunk in as the squad was victorious in its first home meet of the season, beating Northern Michigan University 135-90. The squad enjoyed their first win of the young season and handily out swam Northern.
"Everyone did really great at not swimming down to the competition," senior captain Meredith Scott said. "Teammates were pushing each other to go faster. We had a lot of first, second, third finishes."
Northern Michigan offered the team an opportunity to concentrate on the little details in their races, such as good starts and fluid turns. The team was able to fine tune their races and develop strategies.
"I think they were able to pay attention to those things better than they were the first couple meets," Kirner said.
Freshman Sarah Leitner scorched the competition in the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyles, swimming times of 54.36 and 1:57.80, respectively. These numbers, according to coach Kirner, put her among the fastest swimmers in the GLIAC in those events.
Junior Alicia LeDuc remained undefeated in the 100-yard backstroke, winning it with a time of 1:00.50. LeDuc, who last year competed at nationals, is ahead of her previous season's pace.
The team heads to Findlay, Ohio, next week for a meet against Findlay University and Alma College. Half of the team is using a new training strategy where they will rest on Thursdays and practice on Sunday nights instead.
Scott, who is among the fifteen swimmers following the new schedule, felt it worked well for her in the match Saturday.
"Having Thursday off was nice," she said. "I felt like I was more rested for Saturday. We'll have to see if it's making a difference."
Kirner believes taking Thursday off could help distribute the strenuous work load that comes with midseason training.
"I've been thinking about it for a while," he said. "If you can do anything to give yourself a little edge, having a day of rest could be used better closer to the meet. We'll see how it works."
"I want you to slash your times," Kirner said. "I want to see flash not splash. I want to see you send chills up the other team's spine."
According to at least one swimmer, that dramatic analogy did the trick.
"It really woke us up and got our attention," sophomore Lauren Andriesen said.
Kirner says he first had the idea to set up the meeting when he noticed their home meets fall on two ominous days, Halloween and Friday the 13th.
"It caused a little stir," he said.
The message apparently sunk in as the squad was victorious in its first home meet of the season, beating Northern Michigan University 135-90. The squad enjoyed their first win of the young season and handily out swam Northern.
"Everyone did really great at not swimming down to the competition," senior captain Meredith Scott said. "Teammates were pushing each other to go faster. We had a lot of first, second, third finishes."
Northern Michigan offered the team an opportunity to concentrate on the little details in their races, such as good starts and fluid turns. The team was able to fine tune their races and develop strategies.
"I think they were able to pay attention to those things better than they were the first couple meets," Kirner said.
Freshman Sarah Leitner scorched the competition in the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyles, swimming times of 54.36 and 1:57.80, respectively. These numbers, according to coach Kirner, put her among the fastest swimmers in the GLIAC in those events.
Junior Alicia LeDuc remained undefeated in the 100-yard backstroke, winning it with a time of 1:00.50. LeDuc, who last year competed at nationals, is ahead of her previous season's pace.
The team heads to Findlay, Ohio, next week for a meet against Findlay University and Alma College. Half of the team is using a new training strategy where they will rest on Thursdays and practice on Sunday nights instead.
Scott, who is among the fifteen swimmers following the new schedule, felt it worked well for her in the match Saturday.
"Having Thursday off was nice," she said. "I felt like I was more rested for Saturday. We'll have to see if it's making a difference."
Kirner believes taking Thursday off could help distribute the strenuous work load that comes with midseason training.
"I've been thinking about it for a while," he said. "If you can do anything to give yourself a little edge, having a day of rest could be used better closer to the meet. We'll see how it works."
Be the first to comment on this story